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The Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema) is an essential jazz standard that every jazz musiciian should know. The A sections chord progression, basically a I II7 II V is functionally the same as Take the A Train, Jersey Bounce, Desifando and a few others.

The Girl from Ipanema ("Garota de Ipanema") is a well-known bossa nova song, a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s that won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes with English lyrics written later by Norman Gimbel. When sung by female artists it is typically rendered as "The Boy from Ipanema".

Learning the Song

The Girl from Ipanema is a some what easy song to learn. It's an AABA song form. The A sections are a I II7 II bII7b5 I progression with the bII7b5 being a tritone sub for a V. A1 turns back to the I using the bII7b5 tritone.

In the original key of F major this is: Fmaj7 G7 Gm7 Gb7b5 1st ending) Fmaj7 Gb7b5 2nd ending) Fmaj7

The B section modulates up a half step to Gbmaj7 B7 F#m7 D7 Gm7 Eb7

The B section finishes with a III VI7 II V7 to the last A section Am7 D7 Gm7 C7.

Ukulele Instrument TABS

Here is one way to play the melody for The Girl From Ipanema in a "C" tuned ukulele, with low "G", C tuning.

Tp play in the original key of F you need a low "G" to cover the B below middle C in the melody.

• Girl from Ipanema Tom Jobim and Joao Gilberto Reunited

  Joao Gilberto and Tom Jobim reunite to play their old song, The Girl From Ipanema (A Garota de Ipanema)years later.

• Astrud Gilberto Stan Getz Ipanema 64 - Astrud Gilberto singing "Girl From Ipanema" with Stan Getz in the 1964 flick "Get Yourself A College Girl.